Look to the skies for little April show

Meteor showers, super moon both on tap this month

It’s been a few months since we looked to the skies in excitement, but that’s about to change. Readers, we’ve got some meteor showers on tap.

The Lyrid meteor shower has already begun, and is expected to peak on the night of April 21 into the morning of April 22.

At its peak, one can expect to see anywhere from 10 to 20 meteors per hour.

And if you can’t make it out then, the night before and the night after are also expected to be pretty good, according to CNET.

This meteor shower isn’t a super heavy producer, but CNET notes it has one cool feature – it’s more likely to include bright, dramatic fireballs than other major meteor showers.

And, readers, that’s a pretty cool thing to see!

CNET reports that the Lyrids were created by a debris cloud from a comet named C/1861 G1 Thatcher. That comet was last seen in the 19th century, and won’t be back this way again until 2276, according to EarthSky.

EarthSky notes that the Lyrids is among the oldest known meteor showers, with records dating back 2,700 years ago, when Chinese astronomers made note of it in 687 B.C.

So when one looks to the sky, one is experiencing a ribbon of history – which is amazing to think about!

That meteor shower will be followed by the Eta Aquarids, which will peak the night of May 5 into the morning of May 6, although it’s active from roughly April 19-May 28.

This shower is thanks to the debris of Halley’s Comet, and could lead to a visual display with as many as 30 meteors an hour, NASA reports.

Meteor showers are fun to see. According to Space. com, “meteor showers are the flashes of dust grains that burn up in the atmosphere. They occur when the Earth crosses the paths of comets, which leave dust along their orbits.”

And yet, those dust grains can be visually spectacular down here on Earth, especially if one goes star gazing in an area away from the bright city lights, out in Yuma County’s desert spaces somewhere.

One more note on April, readers.

On April 26, it’s a full moon, and this time, it’s a super moon. Commonly called the Pink Moon, it’s also known as the Sprouting Grass Moon, Egg Moon or Fish Moon. It will look about 16% brighter and 7% larger than average to you skygazers out there.

Mother Nature often puts on amazing shows – and best of all, they are free. Head outside and enjoy them, Yuma!